The main lake Frensham Trout Fishery, 03 July 2002
Now I am not a religious man, but once a year I set out on a pilgrimage. There is no well-beaten path to this site of our Hadj, as we try to visit a different shrine each year.
The occasion is Colin the fat plumber's birthday and we celebrate it by fishing, imbibing fermented or distilled substances, and winding down with a curry. His wife did put her foot down one year and insist on treating him herself. I can only imagine it was not on a par with fishing with his old mate, as he has never been seen loitering at home on his birthday since.
I did some research and found Frensham Fishery in Surrey. It is very small, but has five lakes totalling 6 acres. Alright, calling most of them lakes is an exercise in aggrandisement, when pond will do nicely. They stock rainbows, browns, tigers and blue trout. I believe one of the lakes also holds wild brownies.
This is a very pretty fishery, in a tranquil setting. The water was very clear in the top 38.1cm (15") and in the main lake a heavy flow of water from a stream provided good aeration.
The main lake
The only other angler was fishing right by the outflow, but not getting any takes. He almost landed a wood pigeon on a back cast though. This woodie kept flying back and forwards throughout the day, bringing nesting materials to the alders behind him. It knew just how to stall and side-slip to avoid the fly lines in it's path; quite an aerobatic feat to observe.
Right from the start, we could see fish rising to surface flies. Initially, I was fishing into strong glare and had trouble seeing what flies were hatching, but Colin was able to spot a regular hatch of tiny black midges and trout darting at the buzzers or sipping the emerging adults from the surface.
He had some size 12 Black Pennel flies and tried one of them cast directly to rising fish. It isn't a dry fly, but the trout don't know that. In half an hour he had two fish to it. I tried a mixture of dries, damsels and even the dreaded Cats Whisker. Actually, it was the only pattern to get a take. The other chap then landed a trout and packed up for the day.
After wandering over to Colin's spot, I could see the midge hatch and the trout coming up for them. I went back and tried a tiny black spider pattern. Still no success.
Just then a kingfisher flashed by and flew towards the brownie lake. I then noticed some trout were chasing sub-surface nymphs and changed to a green damsel nymph with a gold-ribbed abdomen. Stripped back fairly quickly, it got a solid take and I landed my first fish; a rainbow of 1kg (2 1/4 lb).
Soon after, I wandered over to the brownie lake, but saw just one small rise. I tried the top of the main lake, but casting was very restricted there due to trees to either side, so moved nearer to the outfall. Colin had taken the other chap's place and was able to see the trout more clearly. Ideal conditions for dry flies.
I could see a few trout cruising by and saw a hatch of what I think were apricot spinners. I did not have any spinner patterns in my fly box, but thought a daddy-longlegs pattern might work instead. It produced a take on the second cast, but I struck so quickly, I snapped off the fly. Idiot! I selected a smaller daddy and tried again; this time casting just upstream of a feeding fish. The fly drifted a foot and down it went. I struck with a deal more circumspection this time and had a fine slim fighting machine to do battle with.
Colin was doing well with another fish to a Montana. He joined me with the beers and some food, but I was keen to keep fishing. As I sat on the bench, I held a thick cheese roll in one hand and flicked the rod with my other hand to send the daddy out just 3 metres from the bank. I remarked to Colin that it would be just my luck to get a take when I was stuffing my face with that doorstep of a roll.
Fate can sometimes be cruel, but not always. Sure enough, as the roll approached my gaping jaws, I saw another set of jaws closing around the daddy. I struck gently and would you believe it, the hook set firm. I placed the roll on the bench and played the trout with due respect. It fought hard before being netted and I then resumed my humble repast.
In the net
Some time later, Colin picked up another fish on the Montana. I tried one of mine, but without success. I then moved to his spot and was amazed at how many trout were visible there. I could see some chasing nymphs and switched back to the damsel nymph. Instant success!
The bad news was that we had both caught our limit and had to leave. It was exciting stuff being able to see the takes and hard to pack up whilst we were catching. Still, there's always another time.
Colin doing homage 
Four rainbows and a Leffe blonde
It was only when we spent time talking to a few other anglers who had turned up in the afternoon that we realised the other sub-species were in the other lakes. I'd like to try the wild brownie lake too.
I spooned a couple of the fish back home and they were almost exclusively feeding on those tiny black midges and buzzers about 1cm in length.
By the way, the curries were a bit greasy, but very tasty. We stopped in a huge Indian restaurant in Warlingham and thought about pigging out, but we are getting to the age where we only dream about it.